Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

Data Analysis Spreadsheet Basics Spreadsheet Functions & Shortcuts The COUNT Function

Posted by Kim B
Kim B
4,990 Points

Count Function - Google Sheet's... Help?

Hello, I'm looking at Google Sheet's Doc Editors help page (and sample spreadsheet) for the COUNT function, but I don't understand their second example formula: =COUNT(A2:A6, " ", -0.5)

What does the blank and -0.5 indicate? I get that the basic COUNT function counts only cells with numeric values, and COUNTA counts all values, text or numeric... but what are these additional values being added to the formula actually counting?

1 Answer

Megan Amendola
seal-mask
STAFF
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Megan Amendola
Treehouse Teacher
Megan Amendola
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Megan Amendola
Treehouse Teacher

With COUNT you can pass in multiple values for the formula to count. That example is also checking for cells with an empty string and cells with -.05 as values. Here are some more examples in case it helps.